During the week of May 16-20, 2011, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) William R. Brownfield will lead a high-level delegation of U.S. federal law enforcement officials to Portugal and West Africa to address transnational crime issues and meet with European, Western Hemisphere and West African counterparts.

On May 16-17, Assistant Secretary Brownfield and Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division will participate in the Trans-Atlantic Symposium on Dismantling Transnational Illicit Networks. The Symposium is a joint U.S.-EU initiative co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the European Union. It will address transnational crime and converging threats that have become increasingly prominent across the Atlantic. Over sixty countries from Latin America, the Caribbean, West Africa, and Europe are expected to attend at senior levels, as well as representatives from international organizations, to strengthen cooperation to disrupt and dismantle transnational illicit networks.

On May 18-20, Assistant Secretary Brownfield, Assistant Attorney General Breuer, and Administrator Michele M. Leonhart of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will travel to Accra, Ghana and Monrovia, Liberia for discussions with host government officials on The West Africa Citizen Security Initiative (WACSI). This initiative embodies the commitment of the United States to partner with West African nations to enhance citizen security. WACSI uses a multifaceted approach to leverage U.S. assistance to fight transnational crime, which poses a direct threat to security, stability and good governance in West Africa.